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First, I apologize, but I'm pretty certain that I am doing something wrong, or my cheap caliper is not accurate. I'm betting it's me and not the caliper. 

 

 But, here's what I get for measurements. 

 

39449292315_062f05bcf2_b.jpg

 

I also have no idea what the old forks were. All I know is that they were rock shox. It's been about 2 yrs since they were stolen. I cannot remember if they were threaded or not. The forks that I had in there were Mongoose forks and headset from a bike someone gave me after my originals were taken. The Monoose were threadless, but fit very loosely when screwed down.

 

Edit: Found this link.

https://knowyourbike.com/gt/timberline/fs

Quote

The Timberline FS comes with Shimano components, including an aluminum, chromoly GT stem, a threadless, sealed Tioga headset and Shimano Optical Gear Display shifters.

The Rock Shox fork has a true suspension.

Pretty sure mine is from 1995-1997, though I don't know if I still have the paperwork from the purchase to verify. 

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15 hours ago, Kingfisher said:

Thanks. I assume that I am to measure the inside diamter of the tube? I'll pull the bad fitting fork off and measure it this evening. 

 

14 hours ago, evssv69 said:

no outside dia dude..as then u need to fit ur head set bearings over it ect....then slide it up into the headtube;)....plus I`m not sure if ur old forks r threaded or not.....

jus imagine there suspension forks....

Ok, I see how I may have misread this. When the sun come up, i'll get the inside measurement. 

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Kingfisher your timberline most likely accepts 1-1/8” head tube  fork which was the common size of late 90’s bikes.  Look for forks with less than 80mm of travel otherwise your bike will ride like a chopper.  Do you have a pic of your Handlebar stem?  That will determine whether you need a threaded or threadless head tube. 

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4 hours ago, Kingfisher said:

 

Ok, I see how I may have misread this. When the sun come up, i'll get the inside measurement. 

my bad...I thought u ment the inside of the fork tube..not the frame....:huh:

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4 hours ago, Shodog said:

Kingfisher your timberline most likely accepts 1-1/8” head tube  fork which was the common size of late 90’s bikes.  Look for forks with less than 80mm of travel otherwise your bike will ride like a chopper.  Do you have a pic of your Handlebar stem?  That will determine whether you need a threaded or threadless head tube. 

Excellent advice.

If you go threadless, make sure the steerer tube is not 'tapered,' which would indicate a change in diameter along the tube. This is done on many modern designs for durability and stiffness, but it will not fit many older ones. I only mention this because sometimes 'tapered' is the only indication of this, as opposed to giving two different diameters for a listed fork.

Threadless is easier to set up and maintain afterwards, but it looks like you might have more affordable options with threaded steerers. I remember seeing a department-store mountain bike with a threaded suspension fork quite recently...

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3 hours ago, evssv69 said:

my bad...I thought u ment the inside of the fork tube..not the frame....:huh:

Inside diameter of both cups is 30mm. I took the cups out and my measurement is 33.5mm.

7 hours ago, Shodog said:

Kingfisher your timberline most likely accepts 1-1/8” head tube  fork which was the common size of late 90’s bikes.  Look for forks with less than 80mm of travel otherwise your bike will ride like a chopper.  Do you have a pic of your Handlebar stem?  That will determine whether you need a threaded or threadless head tube. 

I do not have the handlebar stem, sorry. So, I need to search for 1-1/8" forks. Going by the knowyourbike link that I posted, it said threadless headset for this bike.

1-18" threadless, and no more than 80mm travel. Got it. What about length of the steerer tube? Is there a way I can measure for that, or is there a standard size?

 

Edit: Looking around on eBay to see what I can find, I found these. It says 7 inch 1 - 1/8". 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rock-Shox-Judy-SL-suspension-fork-vintage-1996/282836553305?hash=item41da5f4e59:g:BWQAAOSwh21abeE~

I also found the manual for the 2002 SL's, which says the travel can be either 80mm or 100mm. 

https://sram-cdn-pull-zone-gsdesign.netdna-ssl.com/cdn/farfuture/A1OkUeDxL3dFBaoKicaY1C5Xtx_lcjhLqgz3q0CHwyU/mtime:1372788147/sites/default/files/techdocs/02_04JudySLandXCService.pdf

 

How do I know that a fork will fit the wheels? A bunch of what I am seeing on eBay doesn't list the wheel size.

 

2 hours ago, Grastens said:

Excellent advice.

If you go threadless, make sure the steerer tube is not 'tapered,' which would indicate a change in diameter along the tube. This is done on many modern designs for durability and stiffness, but it will not fit many older ones. I only mention this because sometimes 'tapered' is the only indication of this, as opposed to giving two different diameters for a listed fork.

Threadless is easier to set up and maintain afterwards, but it looks like you might have more affordable options with threaded steerers. I remember seeing a department-store mountain bike with a threaded suspension fork quite recently...

Thank you. I just looked up pics of tapered steerer tubes and got a good idea of what they look like. 

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u can cut the steerer tube down once u know how long it need to b.....so make sure u buy one longer then u need.....or the length u need ......:)

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19 minutes ago, evssv69 said:

u can cut the steerer tube down once u know how long it need to b.....so make sure u buy one longer then u need.....or the length u need ......:)

Thank you. From there, i'll find a headset and front brakes and it should be good to ride....

Well, after I change all the cables and oil the chain a bit. It's been in the shed for a couple years. :)

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I currently get around on a Trek 5.2 Carbon Madone or Trek EX8 duallie mountain bike that I’ve had for a number of years. But the highlight of a cycling was a trip to Whistler in 2015 on a Giant rental bike. What an absolute blast that day was. Got lucky with the weather as it was going into ski season. Chair lift to the top, what’s not to like? :)

689E3A8D-5527-43D7-B623-7F23832089DA.jpeg

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It was all down hill from here, literally as the bike had no brakes for the first third of the descent :o

 

1A6D9740-BCB4-4C6A-83D6-0F71B6E94799.jpeg

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20 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

It was all down hill from here, literally as the bike had no brakes for the first third of the descent :o

But are we glad you are alive today! :D

Today, I learned I will be working at the local bike shop, training over this month and parts of the next before doing shifts. I will be finding out if I really can turn a passion into part of a career, and maybe start becoming a fraction of the expert that Shodog is ;)

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We had a Trek 2.1 lying around at the bike shop I was working in:

28rcc4y.jpg

I got to test-ride it. Despite being comparable in equipment to my own bike and using thinner tires, it rode phenomenally smoothly, soaking up road imperfections far better than its appearance would suggest. It was also equipped with SRAM's Apex groupset and its DoubleTap system; the levers moved around far more than I was used to, but shifts were clean and crisp. I felt faster on this bike than my own, and this one had the standard platform pedals to my bike's clipless pedals, riding with the SPD shoes.

It was all wildly addictive, but unfortunately for me the bike will be passed onto someone else! It was a ride I will not soon forget, even though the Trek 2.1 has been out of production for some time...

I will eventually be moving on from full-time work at the bike shop, but in that time I have learned a lot about and seen many different bikes.

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My time as a bicycle mechanic has prepared me for this moment and this moment alone:

2mfxg6p.jpg

If a department-store Schwinn was not nuts enough to modify, a Supercycle Tempo might be!

2lm4ftx.jpg

My Schwinn got the old Shimano 105 5800 groupset and some new Fulcrum Racing 5 LGs, complemented by a new saddle, stem, and handlebar:

k2g2ec.jpg

A new front fork is in the works for a later date.

2mydut0.jpg

I hung my old microSHIFT/Shimano Tiagra parts on a lightly-used Supercycle Tempo. I took the latter bike apart and refitted it with the 10-speed groupset in a few hours:

1629tti.jpg

A stock Supercycle Tempo looks like this:

25035613_1.jpg?v=8D39D2F2B2AF070

It rides almost exactly like the Schwinn, down to the overall geometry, but is somehow lighter! The longer wheelbase makes it a bit hesitant to dive into corners, though. With so much clearance under the long-reach brakes, fork, and brake bridge, the potential is there to turn it into a fantastic commuter.

I am looking at a new frame for the Schwinn, at which point it will stop being a Schwinn. Ship of Theseus aside, I feel that once I switch the frame, it will definitely cease to be the same bike, even if right now that is all that is left of the original. Yet it is not so much about getting the best-performing bike as it is getting the best performance out of a specific bike.

The Schwinn will always be heavy for a road bike, but it is still astonishingly light for a bike in general. The wrenching and potential to build something unique (even if not particularly good) is just as important as the riding itself, if not more so. Right now, I am just pleased to have more than one road bike!

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Another month, and I have been enjoying the riding. There is a charity ride - the MS Bike Tour, which raises money for multiple sclerosis research in Canada - coming up at the end of the month, so I have been logging the kilometres in preparation for the event.

That new fork plays a small part in the plan:

2djxd37.jpg

My life no longer hangs on two tiny zip ties around the front axle to space the fork from the tire; this one has sufficient clearance:

2ppzs40.jpg

I was unimpressed with the way I had to grind out the front brake nut recess to get it to fit, but given what I paid for the fork, that is a small matter. At least the front wheel sits properly:

4ptw5w.jpg

At the moment, we have this for a Shimano 105-equipped Schwinn:

2wfnzaa.jpg

Even my boss at the bike shop said he didn't understand why I would modify my bike like this, but it got me working for him!

The cartridge bearings in the wheels mean that adjustment for eliminating lateral play is not like a regular wheel. It also means that replacing said bearings is a lot more like servicing a Tamiya! Unfortunately, I find the new wheels do not perform as well as the old lower-end ones that preceded them.

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I am still active, unlike this thread, but I am nonetheless excited by the fact that I have just hand-built a set of wheels for the first time. It started with some cheap hubs:

315del4.jpg

I chose them for their availability in 2:1/triplet lacing, which puts twice as many spokes on the drive side as on the non-drive side at the rear. I had heard so much about it and how it benefits durability, which will be important for a, uh, heavier-set rider like me! It would be ambitious to do as a first-time wheelbuilder, but I was prepared to take the time to dial it in.

The hubs also have 48 points of engagement, which is unusually high for that price point. Despite the extra drag it creates when coasting, I do accelerate and decelerate quite frequently in my regular riding, so I thought I would be able to take advantage of the reduced slack at the pedals.

I laced them to DT Swiss RR411 rims using DT Swiss Champion 2.0 PG spokes, and a mix of 12 mm and 16 mm brass nipples:

fe3tpy.jpg

The front was laced radially with 20 spokes:

kcxr8l.jpg

The rear was finished with 24 spokes. Black spokes are on the non-drive-side because those were the only ones my local bike shop had available in that size!

27zbtd0.jpg

I put them on my beloved spare-parts bike:

1zxv3ex.jpg

I must have done well, for nothing has broken or gone seriously out of true yet after several kilometres of testing! I look forward to building another set in the winter, perhaps using the same hubs laced to DT Swiss' deeper RR511 rims and Competition double-butted spokes.

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How fast does it go?

Is it Nitro?

No spokey dokeys?, they will increase speed immensely!. 

Does it wheelie?

Sorry @Grastens you can see I don't know much about bikes. Cool thread though.

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Nice collection on this forum. 

I have a Scot Aspect, I modded it a bit with new off road wheels and hayes mx2 disc brakes, SRAM rear sprocket and scott official handle bars and seat. And offroad pedals with pins.

niw I am more into onroad, would like to buy a bike I could ride without muh effort, something under 10kg, like a Trek Madone or Giant Seek. 

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Restored my 'old' Stumpjumper.

No longer has all original parts. Brakes got replaced by Magura HS33. And the steering is a combination so newer Ahead parts now fit. Only bits original are frame and gear shifting parts.

 

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Great wheel building @Grastens, I'm sure its something my Dad would have like me to be able to do when I was a young lad on a BMX frequenting the local Skateboard Park as my wheel life expectancy wasn't very long :blink:.

Check out the bend in the handlebar stem. Not long after this shot it snapped and as a result I have a bit of a scar on my top lip + a false tooth. 

IsSL7sA.jpg

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On 9/13/2018 at 4:22 AM, Re-Bugged said:

Great wheel building @Grastens, I'm sure its something my Dad would have like me to be able to do when I was a young lad on a BMX frequenting the local Skateboard Park as my wheel life expectancy wasn't very long :blink:.

Check out the bend in the handlebar stem. Not long after this shot it snapped and as a result I have a bit of a scar on my top lip + a false tooth. 

IsSL7sA.jpg

Thanks! But wheelbuilding is not as gnarly as that story or the scar ;)

Speaking of wheels: I took a punt on some overseas types, and in an effort to dress them up I turned to... MCI Racing! They sent me three sheets of my design, which was enough to complete a wheelset. Here are the decals being cut:

2eykj7c.jpg

Using resized decals from my Tamiya Motorsport Lancia 037 project, I repurposed my own Twin Star Racing (rim decals), Z-Point (quick-release levers), and Progear (hubs) decal designs for use on these wheels. 

Unfortunately, I forgot to specify a white fill for those Twin Star Racing decals, so they look a bit, er, nonexistent:

2m816rd.jpg

I see that the "stealth" look is in for carbon wheels, but the other conspicuous decals give the game away. I designed them myself, though! The inspiration should be obvious ;)

It was difficult to get three sets of stickers lined up at 120 degrees from each other until I remembered the rear wheels has 24 spokes, or a multiple of 3. My tricks were useless for the front wheel at 20 spokes, so I did the rear first and used that for reference for the front. Finished up:

2cpuxyr.jpg

The other Tamiya reference on the hubs!

n6f6fp.jpg

The bike shop I visited had the tires I wanted, but only in a white-striped version. Definitely not my favourite, but I like the specs on the tires, so on they stay. They are presently on the bicycle:

91f60k.jpg

The new mechanic at my local bike shop described the bike as "funky" and "unique," and had to smile when she saw the otherwise-bad Schwinn frame sitting amongst all the "proper" bike components. She loved the individuality - finally, someone who gets it!

As for how the wheels ride: surprisingly well - the wheels get up to speed decently, and from what I can tell are easier to hold at a high speed. The braking is excellent, thanks to that alloy rim. For a first set of deep-section wheels, this wheelset has been an encouraging introduction!

I have since rectified the fill situation on the .svg file for these decals, so a future order will look as I imagined. For now, I will be taking this bike and these wheels to another tour: a 50 km event in my hometown. I see no reason through testing that these wheels will not be bombproof. Now, to find the stretches of road where I can reach the speeds they are meant to do...

 

 

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Looking fantastic @Grastens. You will find those tasteful decals will add at least another 5km to your best top speed :)

The guy who owns the local bike shop here's biggest philosophy is upgrading the wheels on any bike is the best most effective why to improve it. And after swapping out the stock wheels on my old Trek Fuel EX8 to Bontrager Rhythm Elites I have to say I totally agree with him. Enjoy the ride.B)

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On 9/16/2018 at 11:34 PM, wolfdogstinkus said:

I have to mention it again, 

I thought spoky dokeys were the only upgrade needed?. :P

Only if they glow in the dark ;)

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